William h



(No Model.)

W. H. BARNUM.

PACKING HATS.

N0. Patented July 6, 1886,.

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VILLIAM H. BARNUM, OF DANBURY, OONNEJ"IGUT.

PACKING HATS.

.a'PEGiFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 34%,93l, dated July 6, 1886.

Application filed April 15, 1886. Serial No. 198,944. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. BARNUM, of Danbury, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in the Packing of Hats, of which the following is a specificatron.

My improvement relates particularly to the packing of stiff hats, such as are commonly known as Derby hats.

Heretofore such hats have commonly been packed in bandboxes, two or three in each box, one above another in inverted positions, the lowermost being supported by a ring or band of straw-board resting upon the bottom of the box, and sustaining this hat by receiving the brim upon its upper edge, and the other hats being supported, each by a ring or band of straw-board resting upon the brim of the hat below it, and receiving upon its upper edge the brim of the hat above it. This method of packing hats is objectionable in many particulars.

The object of my improvement is to provide a better method of packinghats of the kind referred to, and one which may be practiced at less expense than that now in common use.

My improved method of packing hats consists in supporting the lowermost of a series of superposed hats upon a ring or band of straw-board in the ordinary manner, but in supporting the upper hats by means of strips of paper attached to the hats below, extending across the opening for the head and receiving upon them the crowns of the hats to be supported above.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a bandboX and a series of hats arranged therein and supported accord ing to my improvement. This view also shows externally several other bandboxes and a larger packingcase containing the bandboxes, the packing-case being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken in a plane at right angles to Fig. 1, and showing the bandbox and series of hats supported therein according to my improvement. Fig. 3 is a plan View of a hat having attached to it a strip adapted to support a hat above it in accordance with my improvement.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A designates band boxes made ofstraw-board or analogous material of a shape and size adapting them severally to contain a number k of hats, B, of the kind commonly known as Derby hats, superposed one above another. These bandboxes have covers which may be removed and replaced at pleasure. A number of these bandboxes are packed together in a packing-case, C, made of wood, for transportation. The hats are arranged in the bandboxes in inverted positions, or, in other words, with the top of the crowns extending downward and the'rims or brims uppermost. The lowermost hat in each bandbox is supported by a ring or band of straw-board, l), which rests upon the bottom of the bandbox and receives the brim of the lowermost hat upon its upper edge, so as to sustain the hat. This hat has attached to the brim a strip of paper or analogous material, E, in such manner that said strip of paper will extend across the opening for the head. I have shown the strip of paper extending from the front portion to the back portion of the brim of the hat. It may be secured in any suitable manner. A desirable manner of securing it in place is to bend its end portions over the edge of the brim of the hat and then slip over it and the hat-brim resilient clips F. A simple form of clip suitable for this use may be made of a wire bent so as to form two arms extending from an intermediate portion, and having their ends bent backward and turned over at the tips, so as to present no points liable to scratch, and so as to be adapted to grasp tightly the brim of a hat. The strip of paper fastened to the hatbrim will be allowed to descend or sag into the crown of the hat to some distance, but not far enough to permit the crown of a superposed hat resting upon it to come in contact with the hat below, to which the strip is attached, for if it were in contact with the hat below it would be liable to chafe or rub in transportation and become disfigured. Each hat, except the topmost hat, will have a strip of paper or analogous material, E, fastened to it in the manner described, so as to support a hat above it. When the hats arrive at their destination and are ready for use the strips E can be removed by pulling off the clips F.

This method of packing hats has many advantages over the old method of packing them in bandboxes and supporting the hats above the lowermost hat by means of bands of strawboard severally extending from the brim of one hat to the brim of another above it. These intermediate bands of straw-board are apt to chafe and mar the brims of thehats, and as I the extent of this chafing and the damage incident thereto was largely dependent upon the number of hats arranged in the bandboxes, and the consequent weight upon the lower hats, it was not generally considered safe to pack more-than three hats in a bandboX. By my improvement this chafing is obviated, for the'strips E present no edges to chafe the hats, and therefore a larger number of hats may be safely packed in a bandbox. This results in a saving of the material of which the bandboxes are made, because, although the bandboxes have to be madelarger to accommodate a greater number of hats, yet there will be fewer tops and bottoms of bandboxes needed in proportion to the number of bandboxes, since several boxes are dispensed with by the packing of more hats in each box. Moreover, the packing-cases may be made smaller to accommodate a given number of hats when they are packed with a greater number in each bandbox, the saving of the material in the packing-cases being due to economy of space effected by having fewer bandboxes for accommodating a given number of hats. Not only will the saving of material be effected, but saving of freight will also result. The strips E will be made of material which is cheaper than the rings or bands of straw-board previously used. The preservation of the hats in a better condition is of course a very important result from my improvement. Not only will this be due to obviating the chafing which the rings or bands of straw-board occasioned, but the crowns of hats may be kept more certainly out of contact with the openings in the lower hats, and thus injury to the shape of crowns, which is frequently occasioned with the present method of packing hats, from the contact of the crowns of hats with the openings in hats below them is avoided.

What I claim as my improvement, and. desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The eombination,with a package, of hats arranged therein, strips of paper or analogous material secured to the brims of certain of the hats, and extending across the openings for the head in those hats and'between the hats in such manner that the crown of one hat will rest upon a strip of paper or analogous material across the hat below it, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with a hat, of a strip of paper or analogous material, and clips attaching it to the brim of a hat in such position that it will extend across the opening for the head, substantially as specified.

. WILLIAM H. BARNUM.

Witnesses:

J OSEPH Moss Ivns, LUMAN L. HUBBELL. 

